We’ve been hearing a lot about artificial intelligence and machine learning lately. From the big screen to Netflix, AI is a popular theme in Hollywood. Its most exciting developments, however, are in the real world, where tremendous strides in creating human-like cognitive capabilities are tackling real challenges. The goal is neither self-awareness nor autonomy. Rather, the forefront of cognitive computing is advanced systems that learn at scale, reason with purpose and interact with us naturally. The aim? To help humans make better decisions. Digital images, sound and sensory data are just a few forms of unstructured ‘invisible’ data that computers can’t understand, and end up clogging resources and threatening growth. Enter cognitive systems. Just as the steam shovel helped us solve the problem of scaling human capabilities, IBM’s cognitive system…